East Coast Chair and Barstool Blog

The beginning of a new year is an exciting time! People use it as a clean slate and a way to start over. Have your customers end their year and turn over a new leaf in your restaurant with New Year’s Eve promotions that will let them have the time of their life (*cues up Dirty Dancing theme*).

Choose Your Atmosphere

When you think of New Year’s Eve, sounds of champagne bottles popping and glasses clinking may come to your mind in a more adult setting. But the beauty of a New Year’s Eve party is that it can be geared toward whatever audience you want! While it obviously works well in bars, there are other establishments that can still get in on the holiday festivities. Are most of your customers families with younger children? Have a New Year’s Eve early dinner with kids’ activities and crafts so everyone can be entertained. Even breakfast joints can get in on the celebration by hosting a New Year’s Day brunch and catch the crowd the morning after, bonus points if you have a build your own Bloody Mary bar.

Choose Your Theme

A theme is very important for creating hype and interest. It’s easy for customers to justify popping a bottle of champagne and watching the ball drop from the comfort of their homes, but a good theme can entice them to see the value in the experience (around 9% of Americans go out for New Year’s). Pick one that you think would be the most fun and memorable for your guests to enjoy. Some popular themes over the years include reality TV, roaring 20’s, beach, New Orleans, and 90’s throwback. Although a theme isn’t necessary (even just New Year’s Eve could be your theme!), it can really lend itself when you’re decorating your space and creating a memorable menu.

Choose Your Promotion Method

The key to get people to show up? Make sure they know about it! With so many other holiday gatherings happening, all around a few weeks span, it’s important to promote your New Year’s Eve party around the beginning of December.

Try some of these methods to advertise your party and keep it marked on their social calendar.

• Flyers in your restaurant, on community boards, and on customer receipts
• Email blasts
• Mentioned by staff
• Menu inserts
• Text alerts
• Social media advertisement (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

If you’ve had prior New Year’s events, be sure to send out notices to past attendees that they are not going to want to miss this year!

After you have their attention, consider selling ticket packages to the event. This can help lay out what guests can expect from the event and people are more likely to follow through if they have already paid the money upfront to attend an event. For example, packages could include appetizers, dinner, drink tokens, or even a champagne toast. Having these preset packages can help you order food/drinks appropriately for your crowd and prevent overcapacity. You could even incentivize your staff with who can sell the most tickets for a prize to keep them engaged and customers informed!

Choose Your Entertainment

Music or some sort of entertainment is a must for your New Year’s Eve party! Having entertainment completely transforms the whole feel for the evening. Whether it’s a DJ, live band, magician, or any kind of performer, give your attendees some sort of show they can enjoy while they wait for midnight. You can factor this into the cost of a ticket to your event.

But don’t forget to make a countdown announcement or put the ball drop on a few minutes before midnight so guests can officially ring in the new year as it happens.

Choose Your Staff

It may seem obvious that since your doors are open, you’ll need to schedule your staff. Customer service needs to be at its highest since your restaurant has transitioned to more of an event center than its normal eatery operations.

Bartenders should pay careful attention to how much guests are being served, since overserving is a big issue with the holiday. In fact, DUI arrests are at their highest between Thanksgiving and the end of New Year’s weekend. Having the right staff members on hand to make sure guests have a good and safe experience is crucial to helping everyone have a great time.

Planning a New Year’s Eve party for your restaurant may seem overwhelming but it’s a great way to bring your customers (and maybe some new faces) in for the holiday. A successful New Year’s event, especially those that are ticketed, can be a lucrative start to what may be a slower month in business.

Does your restaurant host an event for New Year’s Eve? What do you found that has worked for your business in the past? Tell us below!

In the restaurant industry, the rush starts the day before Thanksgiving, and doesn’t really end until after New Year’s Eve. It ends on a busy note as New Year’s Eve also known as the fourth busiest day of the year for restaurants. To handle an influx like that, it is best to start preparing before the turkey ever hits the table. By preparing appropriately you can help to reduce the strain on your staff while keeping customers happy and keeping your business in the black.

Manage Employee Expectations

It is crucial to make it clear to employees what is expected of them during this crazy time. Whether that means a freeze on PTO, long shifts, or extra responsibilities, make an effort to clearly communicate your expectations and possible policy changes. Consider posting these changes on a community board next to the schedule or during an all-staff meeting. If you don’t make your expectations clear, you run the risk of having disgruntled employees who might offer less than stellar customer service.

Train Your Servers in Efficiency

During this busy season, it is all-hands-on-deck, so everyone needs to be willing to handle tasks they aren’t usually called to do. Servers can help by pre-bussing tables with bus bins and boxes. This can help to decrease the wait time for customers and keep things running smoothly. Try to suggest dishes and seasonal menu items as the guests are being seated. Chances are the quicker a suggestion is made, the sooner they will make up their mind quicker and keep things moving.

Another tip to keep guests moving, is by bringing them their bill as soon as they are done eating. Give them the option of paying but don’t be pushy. Remind them that there is no rush to avoid seeming to aggressive and making them feel unwelcome.

Hiring Seasonal Help

Hiring seasonal help is a great way to handle the extra business and make sure you aren’t overworking your regular staff. You can start your recruitment efforts by talking to your summer seasonal help. Some of the them might be college students looking to make some money while they are home for the holidays.

To get an idea of how much additional staff you will need, take a look at historical data to give you an idea for the upcoming holiday season. Evaluate the busiest days, and staff accordingly. If this is your first holiday season in business, try to pull data from particularly busy times since you opened your doors. If Thursday nights were unexpectedly busy through November, schedule additional staff during those times in the upcoming days.

Provide Staff Incentives

While your business is your top priority, not all of your staff might feel that way during the holidays. As busy as your restaurant is, you have to remember that your staff is missing out on time with family and friends to be at work. On top of that being required to work extra shifts can lead to some feelings of resentment. To help keep morale high, consider offering some incentives. Things like holiday bonuses, an employee party, or small gifts can go a long way in lifting spirits.

If you are running a seasonal promotion, you can offer incentives to the employee who sells the most. Selling tickets to a New Year’s Eve party? Perhaps the staff member who sells the most tickets is rewarded with a bonus or doesn’t have to work that day.

Offer a Seasonal Menu

Offering a seasonal menu can be a great help to your staff. Not only does it make the time of year feel a little more special to guests, but also contributes to a quicker turnover. Not to mention it makes it easier for your staff to upsell. These items are fun, festive, and available for a limited time. Staff can work with all of these aspects to entice customers to purchase.

The holiday season is a time when customers are gathering and indulging, so a seasonal menu is a great way to make some money. People who wouldn’t normally indulge in a cocktail can be seen partaking in alcoholic eggnog or ordering an extra decadent dessert.

Manage Inventory Closely

Of course, it’s easy to realize that inventory will decrease quickly during your busiest time of year; it’s totally different, however, to be in the middle of a mad rush and realize you have run out of a signature ingredient. Try your best to regulate inventory. Take a look back at your ordering records from previous years and pull together an ordering plan based upon those numbers and your expected increase in sales.

Do your best to ensure that you don’t run out of items, as it leaves a bad impression during a time of the year when customers are already very stressed.

Online Success

Another strategy to control the chaos is by offering online reservations and ordering. Online reservations reduce the strain on a host or hostess rushing between taking phone reservations and doing their best to seat the influx of customers.

By offering online ordering you can not only widen your market, but improve order accuracy. In a crowded restaurant it can be hard to hear customers, or the general rush can lead to mistakes. Online ordering eliminates these issues that lead to mistakes. By having one employee devoted to online orders or online orders and online reservations, it helps to free up the rest of your employees. They can be left to focus on the customers in the restaurant.

The holidays are so full of cheer that it can be hard to catch your breath in all the craziness. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce the stress on your staff and keep your customers happy. By looking through records, prepping your staff, and integrating online strategies, you can look forward to an efficient and successful holiday season.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 9 months, you’re probably aware that the US and China have been approaching a full-scale trade war, imposing progressively larger tariffs back and forth on one another.  If the trend continues, come January 2019, there will be tariffs in place on nearly all Chinese goods imported into the US, and vice versa. Similarly, we have imposed tariffs on some Canadian and Mexican goods, and they have followed suit. We’re not here to argue whether this approach is right or wrong – we’ll leave that to the economists and pundits on TV – but, we are here to discuss what, if any, impact these tariffs will have on your restaurant.

Tariffs Are Designed to “Hit Em Where it Hurts”

When countries impose tariffs, they can take one of two approaches: a shotgun blast tariff on all goods across the board; or, more commonly, a scalpel approach that targets certain industries to inflict maximum economic, or political, pain. For example, in this latest round of tariffs, the Chinese approach has been to target the US agriculture industry, which makes up a large percentage of the US economy and happens to be highly representative of the current administration’s voter base in rural America.

What Do Tariffs Have to Do with the Restaurant Industry?

So, how exactly do tariffs affect the restaurant industry? I mean, nobody is exporting a steak dinner to Canada; Uber Eats isn’t bringing a Primanti Bros. sandwich to Beijing? Isn’t the highly localized restaurant industry immune to tariffs? You might think so, but you would be wrong.  Sure, the outputs of restaurants – food – are, by and large, safe from tariffs. But, what about the inputs? What about the corn, onions, and avocados that we import from Mexico? Or, the farm raised salmon, shrimp, or catfish that come from China? Are you starting to see how tariffs could affect your business? Unless you source all of your foods locally, chances are you will feel the pinch.

Here are some of the more obvious ways in which the tariffs could impact restaurants:

Unstable Food Prices

Very few industries exist in a vacuum, but even fewer have the economic reach of the agriculture industry; when US farmers start to suffer, it ripples across the entirety of America. After all, we all have to eat.

In the short run, the recent tariffs could actually lower restaurants’ food costs. Lower overseas demand could lead to a supply glut, with farmers and distributors having to lower prices to get rid of inventory. If the tariffs from China turn out to be permanent, however, farmers will cut back on production and many will go out of business, which means the supply of domestic food will go down and prices will rise.

Lower Availability of Off-Season Foods

In addition to fluctuating prices, tariffs could lower the supply of seasonal foods. Tomatoes are one example. In the summer months, tomatoes are grown domestically, even locally. But, in the off-season, most tomatoes come from Mexico, where they are grown year-round. In fact, According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mexico produces 70% of our vegetable imports and 40% of our fruit imports. The only tariff on Mexico right now is on aluminum and steel, but if it were to devolve into a trade war like it has with China, then seasonal items like tomatoes could become more expensive and difficult to source during the offseason.

Some Additional Price Increases

• Does your restaurant or bar serve beer in cans? Did you know that the price of aluminum has risen 31% so far this year due to the tariffs on China and Mexico?
• Do you use cloth napkins, table linens, or uniforms in your restaurant? Do you know where they’re made? If their made in China (many are), they are subject to the tariffs as well.
• The price on Chinese exported steel, aluminum, and wood furniture has gone up 10% so far this year, with an additional 15% expected on Jan 1, 2019. Furniture, like many other manufactured goods, is getting hit twice, with Chinese tariffs on raw materials from the US, and then US tariffs on finished goods from China.

Note: Many furniture suppliers have already raised their prices, but East Coast Chair & Barstool has held prices steady on our products, as of 11/20/2018.

What Can Your Restaurant Do to Lessen the Effect of Tariffs?

• Reshape your menu: Focus on items that are in-season in your area, or at least are grown in the US. Your costs will go up, and your prices will probably have to follow, but studies have shown that consumers are willing to pay more for locally sourced foods.
• Lower operating costs: If food costs are going up, and you feel pressure not to raise prices, then you must cut costs somewhere or your profits will suffer. Fortunately, there are likely some ways that you can reduce your operating costs with a little additional effort. Here is a great list of 50 things you can do to cut costs in your restaurant without sacrificing customer experience.
• Be Proactive: We know that there is potentially another round of 15% tariffs on imports from China coming in January 2019 (unless a deal is reached before then), so there is still an opportunity to make any large purchases before then and avoid paying more.

Operating in an environment of increasing tariffs can be challenging, but the effects will be felt industry wide, so the playing field is level. If you have any creative ways of successfully navigating the tariffs, please feel free to share in the comments below.

The restaurant industry is filled with invention and creativity, the same can be said for the terminology. All too often, ‘restaurant words’ are thrown around, but their true meaning isn’t known. The term ‘gastropub’ fits right into that category.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines gastropub as a “pub, bar, or tavern that offers meals of high quality”, while the word broken down is a combination of the terms ‘gastronomy’ and ‘public house’. Gastropubs are a fusion of a casual dining atmosphere with elevated cooking techniques.

Gastropubs originated in London with The Eagle in 1991 and have risen in popularity across the pond in the U.S. over the past ten years.

A restaurant’s menu is a great indicator of whether it fits into the gastropub model or not. Looking at a gastropub’s menu, all the base items will likely consist of usual pub fare but garnished with specialty sauces or cheeses. Think bison burgers topped in smoked gouda cheese or fries with truffle mushrooms on them. It’s all about having a familiar food base for customers and then ramping it up with house made extras you won’t find anywhere else.

Special care is taken when the unique menu items are plated as well. There is a little more that goes into presenting these foods to the customer, in accordance to the gastronomy part of gastropub. Imagine salads that have fresh lemons squeezed over tops with a perimeter of dark balsamic dressing keeping the greens in. Think sandwiches layered with different toppings, topped off with a small molehill of scallions. The presentation is creative, but not stuffy.

Like a pub, spirits are still taken very seriously in gastropubs. Normally these businesses have lengthy lists of choices for their customers that cover liquors, wine, and the largest portion of that list, beers.

Gastropubs are a melting pot of the commonalities of traditional pubs combined with a higher-grade food experience, creating a unique niche of the restaurant industry.

Each restaurant is unique in its own way, because of this we like to be able to offer our customers not only great furniture at even better prices, but many options as well. With that in mind, we are excited to announce a new product, the Distressed Thrasher Pine Table Tops.

The Thrasher Pine Table Tops are a great addition to any restaurant. They are built out of beautiful pine wood that is known for its uncommon knots, and great textures. It gives each table top a one-of-a-kind look that can’t be replicated. Often, owners are concerned that these grooves will make the tops more difficult to clean but because of the 10-sheen urethane premium top coat used to seal these tops, they smooth and easy to clean.

Another benefit of the pine wood is that it is resistant to shrinking and swelling caused by variances in temperature and moisture. Exposure to differing temperatures, as well as the humidity of the surrounding air can lead to changes in the wood. This leads to less warping or cracking when the weather changes.

These table tops are covered in a distressed bourbon stain that is a dark, warm shade of brown. The unique grooves of the table are highlighted due to the staining process that we use. This color has a visual warmth that pairs well with all types of lighting and many design styles.

The Thrasher Pine Tops are built by our in-house Amish craftsmen and are available in a variety of shapes and sizes.

 

To make these beautiful table tops yours head on over to our Distressed Pine Table Tops page and start shopping!

Having a well-designed hostess or point of sale station helps to increase organization, further the aesthetic, and clue the customer in to what they can expect from your eatery.  After all, the hostess or point of sale station is usually the first thing that a customer sees when entering your restaurant. It helps create the story of your brand.

Benefits of a Hostess Station

A hostess station can also help your staff stay organized. Staying organized is crucial to keeping up during busy shifts and allowing staff to focus on customer service, instead of trying to find where the menus are. With customizable drawers, shelves, and cubbies, the stations can help to keep things from getting cluttered and out of control. Having a hostess station that is equipped with storage shelves underneath the surface can save your staff trips to your back area, and make refilling utensils, napkins, and sugar not only more convenient, but less time consuming.

Hostess stands, and the utilization of one, is a great way to control and increase table turnover. It also helps in keeping track of how many guests are coming through the door and help with managing the flow. These numbers can then be looked at later in time to determine busy times and help with the ordering process.

If you are considering adding custom furniture to your restaurant, a hostess station is a great place to start. Custom hostess stations are built to meet the individual needs of your restaurant. Do you need drawers or cupboards? Perhaps you need both. Are you looking to store t-shirts that can be sold to customers as a reminder of their good experience? Or maybe you just need a station for you hostesses to use for menu storage. All of this can be taken into consideration with a custom creation.

What You Need to Know Before Ordering

There are a few things that you can do to make the ordering process flow more easily. The first is to have already measured the space you plan to put it in. Only you know what size will work in your restaurant. By determining this and having the information readily available for your sales representative, you can help the entire process run more smoothly.

Next, take a moment to consider your needs vs. your wants. You might want your logo imprinted into the wood, but you need to have storage for crayons and children’s menus. Determine the top priorities for your station so that it has great functionality and looks good. By thinking about this ahead of time, it’ll be easier to communicate to someone in sales, when the time comes.

Finally, think about the overall aesthetics. Hostess stations are predominantly made of wood or particle board, with reclaimed wood hostess stations being particularly popular. They are also usually available in a variety of stains. If you decide to put doors put on your stand, you’ll want to consider if you want the fronts to be made of wood or a different material such as metal or glass. Smaller details such as the look and color of the hardware can also have a big effect on the overall design of the piece.

 

A hostess station is more than just an interior design choice. It looks good, but it also benefits your business by being integral to the efficiency of a restaurant. Having a station that fits your design makes a statement to customers about what they can expect from your restaurant, helps with organization, and enhances the overall aesthetic.

 

To discuss your customization options, you can speak with one of our customer care representatives by calling 800-986-5352.

In most areas of the United States, patio season for your restaurant comes to an end when the first few cold fronts hit. Cold, rain, and snow can have damaging effects on the patio furniture you’ve invested in. So, what do you do with your furniture once the bad weather hits?

Depending on the material type of the furniture that you have on your patio, you’ll want to think about storing it away when the temperature drops. Consistent cold weather can affect the integrity of the furniture, making it less reliable when it gets warm again, if it’s left out.

If your restaurant has the luxury of having a basement or storage unit, use it for storing your furniture. You’ll still want to take precautions and prep your furniture if your space isn’t climate-controlled. Be sure to wipe this furniture down so you aren’t inviting mold and mildew to grow. Cushions should take priority when it comes to picking and choosing what you have room for inside. Storing the furniture in either your basement or storage unit can prevent cracking and moisture damage from the heavy winter elements.

If you don’t have a basement or the space to store your furniture, you can always cover it a couple ways. Furniture covers can add a sufficient layer to cover most of an item and protect it from piling snow or heavy rain. Try to find outdoor furniture covers that are UV resistant and waterproof. You can also purchase outdoor tarps for a similar result, especially if you have some odd-shaped sectionals or tables you’re trying to cover. Secure these tarps with bungee straps to stop the wind from beating them around. Don’t forget to position the covered furniture tight against an outside wall to avoid them being knocked over in high winds or caught in a snow drift.

Please note, although it can be tempting, you should never bring your outdoor furniture inside for extra seating. Anything other than the recommended use can become a liability for your restaurant and void your warranty. Obviously, if you have the room in your restaurant to place (and not use) your outdoor furniture, that could be an option as well.

Keeping your restaurant furniture intact from the elements can be tricky without these hacks but here are some things to keep in mind when buying your outdoor furniture to make the inevitable winter storage battle a little easier.

• Buy chairs/bar stools that can stack. This can alleviate some of the stress of where you’re going to put your seating if you have a little spare space.
• Stay away from cheap, molded plastic furniture. It can soften in extreme heat or crack in the cold. Plastic is often not durable enough to meet the needs of a bustling patio, let alone to be left outside in bone-chilling temperatures, so it needs to be stored indoors. If you want something a stronger, investigate a poly lumber material that is more of an investment than plastic, but will hold up a lot better in the long run.

The last thing you’ll want to be doing at the start of each spring is running out to buy new outdoor furniture because yours didn’t last through the cold. Using these tips on how to store your furniture can help save you time and money in the long run.

When looking at restaurant seating there are a lot of different things to look for. A phrase you might see appearing quite often during your search is the term ‘flex back’. But what exactly is a flex back? A flex back chair or bar stool has a back that tilts as the person seated moves or applies pressure on the back.

So, now you might be asking yourself “what is the benefit of a flex back?” They add comfort to the chair by allowing your customers to lean back and get comfy, instead of hitting the unmoving pieces of a standard back.

The piece that allows the back to flex is usually a metal piece that securely connects the seat to the back. It is secure enough to ensure the furniture retains its structural integrity, but also allow for some movement.

Studies have shown when customers feel comfortable they stay longer; when they stay longer, they spend more. Restaurants with a more formal atmosphere, that want to encourage diners to stay and continue ordering, tend to opt for comfortable furniture with features like flex backs. This is often seen in bucket bar stools where the intent is to keep customers at the bar.

Standard and flex back options are both structurally sound and hold similar capacities. Ultimately, a flex back allows for additional comfort for your customers and increased spending potential at your restaurant.

It’s finally fall and football season is here! Many restaurants take advantage of their region’s teams and factor them into a seasonal promotion. And why not? Fans hunker down for three to four hours at a time, consuming your drinks and food during the course of the game, making them a great market to tap into if you don’t already.

There are many ways your restaurant or bar can start integrating “game day specials” into your weekly plan.

Advertise ahead of time. If your regular customers aren’t aware that their favorite hangout is going to start showing their team, it’s not going to be good for business. Promote on your social media and website why your place is the best to watch the big game. This is crucial if you haven’t been a hub for spectating before. To tie in with advertising your location, try and incentive patrons to get there early. Get swag from beer or liquor companies you work with to give away to the first 25 customers in the door or have little raffles during the game.

Open a little earlier. For Sunday games, there’s always the possibility that your team could be playing in the early afternoon. Try opening your doors a couple hours beforehand to encourage people to either arrive early for the game and grab a seat. Or remain a desirable option for other customers that aren’t concerned with the game because they know they can eat and get out of there before it starts.

Bring on the booze. If you sell beer of any kind, you can offer some sort of bucket or pitcher promotion where guests purchase larger quantities of beer at a time for a deal. Again, these fans are likely to be holding up a table for longer periods of time than your average customers, so why not give them a further reason to keep buying drinks? These games are a socially acceptable reason for patrons to drink on what’s typically an “off” time for your bar.

Don’t forget the food! Just like beer, you’ll want to be able have the ingredients for your game day menu prepped and ready. If you’re looking to add a little something to your regular menu, try loaded nachos or fries. These dishes can be put together using leftover pieces from other menu items so you’re preventing food waste and giving your spirited customers another choice. Plus, a lot of this food is on the saltier/spicier side, which will leave customers feeling thirsty…

Offer to-go options. Sports fans can be a superstitious crowd. Some of them have to sit in the same chair by an east-facing window where, by coincidence, their team hasn’t lost since ’82. Turn this crowd into customers by beefing up your take-out options. You can offer take-out specific items, larger platters for viewing parties, or allow ordering the day before to relieve some of the pressure on your kitchen staff. Having these choices for people who would rather watch at home can help you take advantage of a higher portion of your customer base and you can make a sale without giving up any space!

Make sure the game is visible. There’s nothing worse than having a group coming to your establishment to specifically watch the game and not being able to see the screen. Be sure to have enough screens so people can view the game from different vantage points. And, because games can start anywhere from the afternoon and into the evening, make sure you can adjust your blinds when the sun is shining in.

No matter where your bar or restaurant is located, there’s always a team that your patrons can rally behind. It could be a national, college, or high school team, or even all three depending on your location! Game day promotions are a great chance to bring customers in on what might traditionally be slower days and engage them in your restaurant or bar’s atmosphere.

There is no denying that social media is a powerhouse. Every day new accounts are being created at a rate of one new social media user every 15 seconds. There are 3.03 billion active social media users, with the average number of social media accounts being 5.54. The average daily time spent on social is 116 minutes a day.

Instagram is right at the top with over 800 million monthly active users and over 95 million photos uploaded every day. That is a huge market and a fantastic tool that you can use to reach current and potential customers. Instagram can be a powerful promotional tool if used the right way. Yelp data shows that more users are looking up restaurants based upon how “Insta-worthy” they are. There are a few things that you can do to up your game, get those double taps, and use Instagram to fill your seats.

Beautiful Food

As a restaurant, your top priority is the food and the way that it tastes, but nothing says that food can’t be both delicious and photo worthy. Many restaurants are seeing success with creating a novelty food item that brings people in just for the photo opportunity. Bloggers compile lists of the most
Instagrammable food in each city. Readers then flock to these locations to get that next great picture. By offering an item that is a little over the top, you can bring in a lot of business. Hybrid foods such as the Cronut, are also very popular.

Don’t rework your entire menu just to make it Instagram worthy but consider creating a monthly special that is fun to photograph. It will get people in the door and it’s a great creative exercise for your staff.

Presentation of food is always important, but there are a few easy ways to up you game. Investing in some white plates is a great way to show off your food. It helps to accentuate the colors of the food and has a nice minimalistic feel, perfect for photographing.

Many of us can agree that greasy foods are delicious, though packaging with giant grease stains aren’t the most appetizing looking. To avoid grease ruining a Kodak moment, invest is some grease proof paper. It allows fried foods to look their best all the time.

Lighting

As any photographer will tell you, lighting is crucial to the perfect photo. Take a moment to evaluate the lighting in your restaurant to make sure it fits the image you want to create. Are you a dark and moody bar looking to reach college students or a light and airy bakery catering to families? If you are trying to go for a darker vibe, try having a few areas that are well lit enough for a good photo op. Neon signs can be great for this. They also create a signature piece to identify your location.  Photographers love spaces with good natural lighting, it makes taking the photo easier and allows your food to look its best.

Décor

You don’t need to completely redesign your restaurant just for Instagram opportunities. A few small adjustments can be made to encourage guests to take photos. A wall with a quote that embodies your brand, unique wallpapers, and furniture can all enhance the experience offered at your restaurant and promote customers sharing on their account.

You can help set the tone with what part of your décor you would like featured in photos. Do you have a fancy tiled floor? Or perhaps you spent hours obsessing over the perfect counters, feature them as a consistent backdrop on your feed and customers will follow suit.

Murals

Finding a mural and posting a picture with it is a new trend to hit Instagram. If your building has a beautiful blank wall indoor or out, consider pairing up with a local artist to create something unique to your area or restaurant. Brainstorm a signature hashtag and a location tag and you’ll have people traveling from all over to come take pictures. In some cases, people stand in lines down the block to take pictures with certain murals. If foot traffic is an issue this is a sure-fire way to increase passersby.

Hashtags

Share your Instagram account name everywhere. On your menu, on a chalkboard sidewalk sign, or on a receipt. Make sure that your customers know where to find you online. They can’t follow if they don’t know where you are posting. Create a custom hashtag that either references the name of your restaurant or a fun aspect of your brand. This will encourage any Insta-lovers to start snapping and tagging your restaurant.

Hosting a photo contest with a signature hashtag is a great way to improve engagement or get the momentum going on a new account. To encourage participation, offer customers a percentage off if they come in to eat and post.

Your Feed

Most importantly, don’t forget to include a human element to your posts. Gorgeous photos of your food are great and can create craveability ideal for generating new customers. That being said, a huge part of the industry is the people and their stories. Integrate photos of people enjoying themselves on your feed, it’ll inspire other to come and join the food party.

Just be yourself. Share photos of your customers enjoying the food or photos that illustrate the story of your business and what makes you unique. In a world of cultivated content people often crave realness.

Social media is a great marketing tool and Instagram is at the forefront of the social media game. Instagram is an excellent tool for meeting your customers where they are at. By making a few adjustments to your current design or marketing plan you can increase your customer base exponentially.

Have you seen results by using Instagram? Let us know in the comments below!